


The Changes you Take Yourself Through

by Unpaid_Devushka



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Past, Past Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22902187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unpaid_Devushka/pseuds/Unpaid_Devushka
Summary: After the whole ordeal with the Inhumans, Coulson decides the team could use a break, and Skye could always use some help with her powers, if only to learn to fight with them. So he takes them to the Avenger’s Tower,Set after Age of Ultron and after the whole ordeal with Afterlife.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Clint Barton & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Natasha Romanov & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Skye | Daisy Johnson & Tony Stark
Comments: 15
Kudos: 192





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone. Just letting you know that there are slight mentions of past abuse, past child abuse, past sexual abuse, and slight mentions of suicide. It isn't described in detail or anything, but it's there. Please take care of yourselves and don't read if you believe it may trigger you.  
> Love you all!  
> -Unpaid_Devushka

Skye stood to the back of the elevator as it ascended the tower. Slightly in front of her was Fitzsimmons, who were talking excitedly about getting to meet the Avengers. May and Coulson stood side by side at the front, May being her silent self while Coulson talked.

“They’re gonna be mad. I’m expecting a punch.” Coulson says to May.

“Well, if you do, I’d say it’s from Nat.” May responded, looking forward.

“Yeah, me too.” He sighs, glancing round to see Skye.

“You okay Skye?” He asks, confused by how uncomfortable she looked. Fitzsimmons turned to face her when she didn’t respond, instead continuing to look at the floor, deep in thought. Fitz was about to press when the elevator doors opened, and Skye was jolted out of her thoughts by a hand on her arm.

“Come on. Just be yourself. First impressions count, remember.” Coulson said, before stepping out of the elevator. Skye sighs, before following then all.

“That’s what I’m worried about.” She mutters, letting her hair fall to conceal her face. She looked up through her bangs to take in the scene in front of her. The Avengers had been sitting and standing casually when they arrived, but now were all standing stiffly. The first one to move was Natasha, who walked slowly towards him.

“Bastard.” She said calmly, before lightning quick punching him in the face. The room shook slightly, no one noticing but Skye, who had jumped at the action. Coulson didn’t even flinch, but reached up and wiped away the small amount of blood that had trickled from his nose. May just smirked slightly while Fitzsimmons stare between Natasha and Coulson. Daisy can’t help but feel hurt when she looks at Simmons, the way her friend, and not only her, Mack, Bobbi and even Hunter had talked about her, had hurt her. She had never allowed herself to get so close to anyone like she had started to with the team, but it was always a mistake. She got close to them, only for them to shut her out, just like all her foster homes.

“Hi Natasha.” Coulson says, which is when everyone seems to unfreeze. The Avengers all move towards Coulson and start yelling at him, with Fitzsimmons and May defending him, Bobbi standing off to the side. Skye moves back next to the elevators, back against the wall as everyone yelled. She couldn’t help but remember the last time something like this happened she was in quarantine and Tripp had just died. Their voices got louder as they tried to be heard over one another, and Daisy tried her best to block it out, just how she had taught herself in many foster homes.

The room fell silent when a glass fell off the table, no one having noticed the room shaking, smashing on the floor and spilling water everywhere. Coulson turned to face her, as did Fitzsimmons and May.

“Sorry,” Skye mumbled, wrapping her arms tighter around herself and stopping the quakes. It had been so long since that happened, the training at Afterlife having given her basically complete control. She looked up to see the Avengers looking at her curiously, not having noticed her before. As she lifts her head her hair falls out of her face, and several gasps are heard throughout the room.

“Poots?” Clint speaks first, stepping forward slightly with wide eyes while the others are frozen in either shock or confusion.

“What have I said about calling me that, Circus Boy?” Skye asks, smiling softly at him. He rushes forward to give her a hug, and she automatically flinches away, taking a deep breath before correcting herself and hugging him.

“Besides,” she comments, pulling away, “it’s Skye now.”

“Skye? Oh my God.” This time Skye was ready for Natasha to come barreling into her, wrapping her up tightly as Skye chuckled.

“Hey Red.” She said softly, before pulling back, smiling softly at her. Steve walked over and pulled Skye into a side hug, a bit difficult as Natasha had attached herself to Skye’s side, and Bruce stayed where he was, calling out a hello.

“I’m sorry. What is going on?” Coulson asked, looking between Skye and the Avengers standing near her.

“That I would like to know.” Tony agreed, not having met Skye before.

“Uhh, I kinda know them.” Skye says, looking down at her hands.

“I don’t know you,” Tony calls indignantly.

“Oh, sorry. Hi, I’m Skye. Although you probably know me better as Skyenet.” Skye waves at Tony, whose eyes bulge and mouth drops open, just as Pepper walks in and pushes his jaw closed.

“You’ll catch flies.” She tells him, and a few people in the room laugh. Skye just rolls her eyes when there is a cough from behind them. Nat turns, pulling Skye around with her and smiles at May.

“Hey Mel.” Nat says, smiling at her friend, but making no move to leave Skye’s side.

“Want to explain this? Skye?” May asks, and Skye just sighs.

“It’s a long story, and it’s not why we’re here.” Skye tries to deflect, but Coulson just looks at her.

“Fine. Let’s sit down though?” Skye asks, glancing unsurely at Nat. Nat nods and they make their was over to the couches, sitting down next to each other as the rest of them sit around them. Once everyone had settled, there was a moment of silence as everyone looked expectantly at Skye.

“Right, well, I suppose we should start with Clint, considering he’s the first I met.” She glances at Clint, who nods from beside Nat. Skye had sat on the corner of the couch, Natasha next to her, with Clint beside her. Tony and Pepper were in the love seat, leaving Steve and Bruce sitting with May and Coulson on another couch and Fitzsimmons in the other love seat.

“I met Clint at St. Agnes. Him and his brother ended up staying six years, although we weren’t always there at the same time,” Skye started, and Clint grabbed her hand where it was wrapped around Nat, knowing where the story was going.

“The day I met him I had just gotten back from, at the time, the worst foster house I’d been in.”

“Wait, you were in worse?” Clint interrupted, leaning around Nat to look at her.

“Clint, you know what the system is like. Another time,” Skye spoke softly, stopping him from speaking. He just nodded, the fierceness in his eyes telling her that they would definitely be talking later.

“Anyway, he had gotten there almost a year before then, but with our placements we hadn’t met yet. The police had taken me back to the orphanage from the hospital, and as I was walking in the gates he dropped down from the huge oak tree I used to always climb, and just walked silently beside me. I was six, and he was ten, but we instantly clicked. He became, what I imagine, a big brother would be like. We only saw each other between placements, one time there was a year that we didn’t see each other at all, but we left notes in the tree before we went to a new house.

“This went on for the six years Clint spent in the system, we never got placed together, but Clint always looked out for me. Some kids at the orphanage weren’t nice, especially to a mixed Asian girl. So Clint protected me when he was there, but taught me some self-defense for when he wasn’t. When Clint was fifteen, and I was twelve, he left, joined the circus. I was in the hospital at the time he left, so I only found out when I was able to climb the tree again, and found his note. On my sixteenth birthday, well, what I think was my birthday, I left as well, deleted myself and ran.” Skye finished, smiling across at Clint as he squeezed her hand.

“Why were you in the hospital?” Simmons asks, and Skye turned to face her and Fitz.

“My appendix had burst. The family I was staying with didn’t want to take me to the doctor when I told them my side hurt, and they sent me to school. The school ended up calling an ambulance when I collapsed during biology class,” she shrugged, brushing off the concerned looks.

“But how could they not take you to the doctors?” Simmons breathed, appalled.

“Doctors are expensive. To a lot of people, we were just another paycheck, and we didn’t get anything that cost too much. Including healthcare.” Clint explained, nonchalantly.

“So if that’s how you met Katniss over there, who did you meet next?” Tony inquired, only for Clint to groan and put his head in his hands.

“What?” Tony asked innocently, smirking, as Skye turned to Clint with what could only be described as an evil grin.

“Katniss? Is that because of the bow and arrow thing, or cause of the-”

“Don’t you dare!” Clint jumped over Natasha and covered Skye’s mouth with his hand. She giggled, playfully swatting at him, before quickly moving her hands in what Nat and May recognised as the sign for stop. Clint immediately got of her, and Skye bit her lip to try and stop the giggles.

May turned to Coulson as they watched the scene unfold, raising an eyebrow. Coulson glanced at her, smiling and gave a small nod in return. They hadn’t seen Skye like this, this happy and playful, since, well, never, but definitely not after Ward. Maybe her staying here wasn’t such a bad idea.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have I figured that my chapters are too short and put two into one? Yes. Do I care? Kinda, but oh well. Enjoy!

“Okay, sorry.” Skye laughed breathlessly, throwing herself back down beside Nat. She had chased Clint and pinned him on the other side of the room, both laughing wildly, as the others had watched on in bewildered amusement. Even Natasha and May were confused, the signs between the two far too fast to decipher.

“Its fine. It’s nice to see you like this after…” Coulson cuts himself off, glancing at May and back to Skye.

“Ward? It’s okay to say his name. At least, I’m over it.”

“Who’s Ward?” Clint asked, flopping back down on the couch, half on top of Natasha, who shoved him off. Skye glanced at May, who nodded.

“Ward was my S.O., the specialist on our team, and a friend. He was also Hydra.” Skye looked down at her hands briefly, before looking back up.

“But that’s a story for another day. I believe we were going to talk about who I met next? That would be Bruce.” Skye continued, glancing at him and nodding.

“I met Skye when I was volunteering at a homeless shelter, although I believed her name was Lilly. She had come in, way too skinny, in the middle of winter, shivering. I sat with her for a while, and she told me that her van’s heating had stopped working.” Bruce started.

“There was a huge storm,” Skye continued, “and the snow was knee high. My van was stuck in an ally, so I had to walk from there to the shelter. I had never been in one before, so I was kinda lost with how they worked until Bruce came up to me. He asked me if I would rather go to an all-female shelter, but I was too cold and too tired to care.”

“I got her some hot food, dry clothes, and we chatted while she ate. I told her that I was a scientist, and we started talking about that for a while. She told me she had dropped school as soon as she turned eighteen and had left the system, that she had never done well, but we still talked for ages, and she showed me some angles I hadn’t thought of. She slept there for the night, and when I returned in the morning she was gone” Bruce shrugged, smiling at Skye.

“Wait, I met you when you were seventeen.” Natasha cut in, glancing between them.

“Oh, yeah. I was actually sixteen when we met, Bruce. But I had already erased myself, and if I had told you I was sixteen you would call the authorities and that would have been a mess.”

“Well then, you were an exceptionally smart sixteen year old.” Bruce said, shaking his head.

“I thought you dropped out and barely had your GED?” Simmons questioned, and Skye stiffened.

“I do.” She said guardedly.

“But if you were so smart, why didn’t you graduate high school?”

“Simmons, I was in the foster system. In my sixteen years in the system, I stayed in twenty five homes and an orphanage. That’s twenty six schools. While at those schools, in a lot of cases I had to worry about hiding injuries and bruises, when I would next get to eat, and bullies. Schoolwork wasn’t exactly a priority.” Skye deadpans, staring back at Simmons. She blushed, leaning back into Fitz more at the glare sent her way by Clint, and flinched at the glare from Natasha.

“Sorry, I didn’t realise.” She muttered, looking back towards Skye.

“Keep in mind that not everyone had the same opportunities as others. Just because people may have dropped out of high school, or never went to university, doesn’t mean they’re not smart.” Clint said, having also dropped out of school.

“It’s okay Simmons, just be careful what you say, you can hurt people without meaning to,” Skye added, and Simmons nodded, realising the double meaning.

“I met Nat next.” Skye starts, glancing at her.

“I had just joined the Rising Tide, and Natasha had been assigned a mission there. I figured out that she was undercover, and I kept her cover for almost a month before she found out that I knew. She found me, as we had never met, and one night pulled the door of my van open, despite all the locks and security I had on it. I think it confused her that there was a young girl behind the computer.” Skye says, smirking slightly at her.

“It did. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. After Skye had explained to me that she had been keeping my cover, I still don’t know why by the way, she taught me how to hack properly.” Natasha says, glancing at Skye curiously.

“The Rising Tide may have been made up of hackers, but they didn’t take kindly to people disobeying them, never mind infiltrating them. I’ve seen first hand what they do, and I didn’t know who you were cause you weren’t with the Avengers at that stage, so I did what felt right. I’m glad I did, because there were times that your cover would have been blown by your hacking.”

“What was wrong with my hacking?” Natasha asks, turning to face Skye.

“Well, it wasn’t the same as the hacking used to get you in. You said you had experience doing things, but when they asked you to do those things, you were unable to. You are lucky I managed to hack your screen and compete the hacks for you.” Skye squirms as Natasha pokes at her.

“You were a better hacker than Nat?” Steve asks, raising an eyebrow with an amused smirk.

“Were? I still am. I taught her pretty much everything she knows.” Skye smirks.

“Hey! I have improved since you left, I’m sure I’m the same if not better,” Nat says, knowing what she was challenging Skye into.

“Okay, we will most definitely come back to this,” Skye promises, before turning back to everyone.

“Nat was undercover for a year and a half, in which we got quite close, and when she left, I moved. I knew she was a part of S.H.I.E.L.D., and I was scared they would bring me in for hacking them. I hacked her laptop and deleted everything she had on me. I left all the other Rising Tide information she had.”

“Thanks for that. You know, I was thinking that S.H.I.E.L.D. could recruit you, you would have done amazing at communications.” Natasha deadpanned, Skye laughing before she could stop it.

“Me? In S.H.I.E.L.D.? No, definitely not back then. I had even left a bug on your laptop, but I never used it and then deleted when Coulson kidnapped me.” Skye says, grinning cheekily Coulson.

“Hey, I did not kidnap you! We brought you in to the plane for questioning.”

“Hmm, let see. You pulled me out of my van against my will, put a black bag over my head, and threw me in the interrogation room.”

“You didn’t seem too bothered by it. You basically told us it was your plan to get onto the plane. How did you know it was a plane anyway?” Coulson asks, ignoring the slight glares he was getting from the Avengers.

“Well, it wasn’t that thick of a bag, I could see the outline. And it was my plan to get picked up by S.H.I.E.L.D., maybe not by you but by someone so I could get that file. I could have removed the cryptographic signature if I wanted, or masked it or changed it, but I left it. I told you the truth.” Skye smirks, and Coulson gapes at her. 

“What did you tell them?” Clint asks, and Skye fiddles with her phone for a minute, before speaking again.

“Jarvis? Can you play this video on the tv please?” Skye asks, and the TV screen turns on, showing the security footage from the plane’s interrogation room. The video plays, starting with the room empty, but the door opens and Ward steps in, leading a girl with a black bag on her head, Coulson closing the door behind himself. Ward pushed Skye down roughly into the chair, before unceremoniously pulling the black bag off of her head. The camera angle is slightly awkward, and you can only see half of her face, and both of Coulson and Ward’s faces clearly. They watch in silence as Skye snarks back to them, causing Clint to have to stifle laughter once or twice.

“Wow. Yeah. Was that a mistake? Or am I now sitting in the centre of your secret headquarters? What is this? A plane? I got inside. And by now, you've discovered you can't beat the encryption on my equipment, so you got nothing.” Skye stops the video there, and the screen turns off.

“That’s what I told them,” Skye smirks, facing Coulson as he splutters.

“How did you get that video?” He finally asks, and Skye just raises her eyebrows at him.

“I’m a hacker, how do you think I got it?” Skye asks, and even May smirks at that. Coulson just rolls his eyes, and the others laugh.


	3. Chapter 3

Skye glances around the room, taking in everyone, before sighing.

“The next person I met was Steve, I didn’t realise he was captain America at the time. I had been using an internet café’s wi-fi to hack into… Well, I was hacking, and I lost track of time. The café closed at eleven pm, otherwise I wouldn’t have chanced leaving so late at night, especially as a nineteen year old girl in a not so nice part of New York. I had left the café and was walking back to my van when I noticed three guys were following me. I knew all the alleyways, so I tried cutting through one, but one of them disappeared while the other two followed me. I started to run through the alleys when I crashed into someone, that person being Steve. I didn’t know who he was, all I knew was that he was big and had grabbed a hold of me to stop me from falling, and I froze.” She turned to look at Steve, who continued the story.

“I hadn’t been able to sleep, so I had gone for a jog. I lost track of where I was, not that I minded, when I heard this guy on the phone talking about cutting a girl off in the alleys. So I jogged into the one he was about to turn into, and Skye came crashing into me. I steadied her to stop her from falling over, and she seemed to freeze. I could see the two guys behind her stop, and I realised she was the one they were trying to grab. I told her I didn’t want to hurt her, and that I was going to get her out of there, and she nodded so I walked back the way I came with her. We walked past the guy who had been planning to cut her off, and he tried to grab her.”

“Steve knocked him on his ass. He looked so shocked” Skye laughed, remembering the look on the guys face. She looked up to see people looking at her, shocked.

“What?” She asks, and Coulson shook his head.

“How can you be so casual about that?” He asked, and Skye took in the shocked faces of her old team and some of the Avengers.

“Nothing happened, Steve got me out of there and I was fine. Besides, it’s not like it hadn’t happened before,” She mutters the last sentence under her breath, and only Natasha heard her, gasping.

“What?” She asked, and Skye’s eyes widened, not meaning that comment to be heard by anyone. The others watched on, confused by Natasha’s horrified face, not having heard what Skye had said.

“When the hell did that happen?” She asked, and Skye sighed.

“{The last foster home I was in, before I ran away when I turned sixteen.}” She replied in Russian, quietly enough that she hoped Bobbi couldn’t hear her, being the only other in the room to speak the language beside Natasha.

“{You were fifteen!?}” Natasha exclaimed, and Skye nodded.

“{Who the hell is this guy?}” Natasha asks, and Skye shakes her head.

“{He was caught with another foster kid, she was sixteen, a few years later. He is still in jail on counts of abuse and rape.}” Skye says, and Bobbi gasps across the room.

“{He raped you?}” She asks in Russian, and Skye’s head snaps up to look at her.

“{Please don’t tell them. It was years ago and there isn’t anything they can do.}” Skye pleads, and after a few moments, Bobbi nods.

“{We are taking about his later though.}” Natasha says firmly, Bobbi humming in agreement, and Skye nods, knowing she wouldn’t be able to change their minds.

“What was that about?” May asks, annoyed that she only knew basic Russian and couldn’t follow the conversation.

“Nothing.” Skye says, shaking her head.

“Anyway, I didn’t actually realise who Steve was until he had pulled me into a quiet bar that was the only thing open nearby. It was brighter in there, and turned out to be a bar for war veterans, which meant it was rather quiet at that time. He got me some food, like a gentleman, and then walked me to my van. He tried to get me to stay in a hotel nearby, he was going to pay for me to stay there for a few nights, but I refused.” Skye finished, shrugging. She gave everyone a moment to process that, before turning to Tony.

“What year did I first hack you?” She asked, and Tony shrugged.

“Two thousand and five, Skye.” JARVIS answered, and Skye smiled.

“Thanks J. So I was seventeen when I first hacked Stark. I thought I was sixteen, but that’s beside the point.”

“What do you mean, you thought you were sixteen?” Pepper asked, and Skye smiled softly, even as Clint looked at her worriedly.

“When I was dropped off at the orphanage as a baby, I had nothing. No note was left, so the nuns had to give me a name, and estimate my birthday. When I met my parents, I had dinner with them where they found out I didn’t know my birthday. I had thought I was twenty five, but my dad told me it was the second of July, which means I am actually twenty six. Still weird.” She muttered the last to Clint and Natasha beside her, who nodded their understanding.

“Why did you hack him?” Fitz asks, and Skye laughed.

“Oh, Miles dared me too. I was drunk enough that I agreed.” She shrugged, and Tony spluttered.

“You hacked me at sixteen - don’t look at me like that you believed you were sixteen, so we are saying sixteen - while drunk. Please let me hire you!” Pepper hit him across the chest, but he ignored her, attention fixed on Skye.

“Sorry, I’m not for hire. But, I can help you secure your firewalls further, both for S.I. and the tower, if you wish.” Skye offered, trying not to laugh as Tony visibly struggled for a moment.

“I’m sure that can be arranged,” he responds, and she nods, realising that’s as close as she will get to a ‘yes please’. She smiles brightly at him, and there is a lapse of silence.

“So, why did you come here?” Nat asks, glancing at May and Coulson.

“Well, I thought it was high time I told you that I was alive, and I thought you may be able to help Skye learn how to use her powers while fighting, and she can’t do that with any of us back at base.” Coulson answers, and Skye nodded.

“I can control my powers, and I have practiced fighting with them, but there are only so many dummies you can send flying. They don’t fight back.” She shrugged. 

“I can set you guys up with some rooms for a few nights, we have enough, and Skye can stay longer is she wishes. She could even become an Avenger if her powers are as powerful as you say they are.” Tony shrugs off the looks a few of the Avengers give him.

“Is that what you want, Skye?” Coulson asks, and Skye looks around at the people in the room. Her old team were the second family she'd ever had, and while she loved being with them, and they were like family to her, they didn’t know the whole story about herself. Clint and Natasha squeezed her hands, and she smiled at them, knowing her answer. This was her family, the people who had stuck with her for years, the two people who stuck by her side no matter what. The two people who taught her what family was, and the others who she may have only met once, but had made a huge impact on her life.

“Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's it, for now. I may continue this, I'm not sure. I have ideas, but honestly I have so many stories that I am currently working on that it may be a while.


End file.
